I did notice on the first two shows that once each of the contestants had the skin removal surgery (at around 9 months), neither of them had significant weight loss afterwards...I think the guy lost 21 lbs and the girl alot less than that, which I suspect those amounts are pretty much due to the removal of the excess skin. It seemed like their actual weight loss (not loss due to skin removal) slowed down quite a bit during the 9-12 month phase. I hope they do a follow-up on these people to see if they kept the weight off. I know from my personal experience of losing 75+ lbs over and over again (around 8 times) and subsequently gaining it back each time, that losing it is the easy part...it's maintaining the weight loss that is the hardest. When you are down to a small size, it's easy to start thinking of yourself as "normal" and that you can eat like a normal person. You can never eat like a normal person...you have to be diligent your entire life if you want to keep it off. It's really, really hard. :-(

I must say though...I like this guy Chris who helps them...he seems really sincere and as if he emotionally feels their pain. Unlike the other show...the Biggest Loser...the last time I had watched it, the trainers seemed so cold and callous. Of course, I haven't watched it in years...so maybe that's changed.

06-14-2011, 02:37 PM

Bearcata

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Third episode, Dana a 44 yr old man who weights 498lbs. I liked this episode because if showed underlying emotional issues as to why Dana is so big. Sexual molestation when young and gender identification, he is gay. Still even with revealing those two issues, Dana is still very powerfully addicted to food. With Chris he is able to lose 110 lbs in 3 months and he is cheating during that time frame and lying about it when caught, just like any addict. Second 3 months loses only 29lbs. Third 3 months loses only 40lbs. Last 3 months loses only 24lbs. Total 203lbs lost. Original goal 250lbs. I think Dana needs to join a support group or get some kind of therapy just to talk to a qualified specialist about his emotional issues.

06-14-2011, 03:24 PM

Holly in SoCal

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearcata

Third episode, Dana a 44 yr old man who weights 498lbs. I liked this episode because if showed underlying emotional issues as to why Dana is so big. Sexual molestation when young and gender identification, he is gay. Still even with revealing those two issues, Dana is still very powerfully addicted to food. With Chris he is able to lose 110 lbs in 3 months and he is cheating during that time frame and lying about it when caught, just like any addict. Second 3 months loses only 29lbs. Third 3 months loses only 40lbs. Last 3 months loses only 24lbs. Total 203lbs lost. Original goal 250lbs. I think Dana needs to join a support group or get some kind of therapy just to talk to a qualified specialist about his emotional issues.

What most people don't understand is that the majority of people who have eating disorders have them due to underlying issues. Usually it is something like having been abused or molested that drives them, so until you get healed from the pain of those things that went on (usually in your past, as a child), you will go back to eating, even after losing a large amount weight. Sometimes it's even harder being thin with those issues still unhealed than it is being overweight, because to have people of the opposite sex suddenly looking at you as being attractive can be very uncomfortable if you are not used to it and you have previously been sexually abused.

It's not really about the food, it's about trying to numb out the pain inside and trying to distance yourself from any further hurt or pain. Drug and alchohol addicts do the same thing (or any other kind of addict), only their drug of choice is different, it's not food. Unfortunately when people use food as their drug of choice, it shows on the outside more than someone who maybe uses drugs, alchohol or other types of addition. The evidence of food addiction is much more obvious and harder to hide because you wear it on your body, whereas some alchoholics and drug addicts can carry on with their daily routines and no one notices their addictions, they've learned to hide it well. But if you really probe into why all these people are addicted, it usually stems from very similar things. Quite often people who use food and subsequently have gained alot of weight have experienced sexual abuse of some kind. The weight can serve as a protective devise to ward off unwelcome advances of the sexual nature, kind of a shield of sorts. Sometimes the unconscious mindset is "if I am unattractive, then maybe no one will ever want to try and hurt me again by touching me inappropriately". I'm not saying that's for ALL overweight people, but many would fall into this category. It's not all about losing the weight, there's usually alot of healing that needs to take place along with it so the weight can be kept off and the person won't go back to their old ways.

What I found rather distrubing last night was Chris yelling at what looked like a homeless man. Yes, the homeless guy was yelling "fattie" at Dana and yes it was nice that Chris stood up for him but still, the homeless person could also have issues. That and littering the city by throwing of 50lbs of food from the bridge. Seriously, where is a police man when you need one? Chris and the production company deserved to pay a fine for littering.

Oh, on a bit of a sidenote. I didn't realize that Chris was paying for Dana's groceries. If you are cheating on your diet why would you submit a receipt for reimbursement if you bought, a candy bar or ice cream? Do you honetly think no one will read the receipt? Do you want to be caught?

06-14-2011, 05:19 PM

Tilden

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearcata

What I found rather distrubing last night was Chris yelling at what looked like a homeless man. Yes, the homeless guy was yelling "fattie" at Dana and yes it was nice that Chris stood up for him but still, the homeless person could also have issues. That and littering the city by throwing of 50lbs of food from the bridge. Seriously, where is a police man when you need one? Chris and the production company deserved to pay a fine for littering.

Oh, on a bit of a sidenote. I didn't realize that Chris was paying for Dana's groceries. If you are cheating on your diet why would you submit a receipt for reimbursement if you bought, a candy bar or ice cream? Do you honetly think no one will read the receipt? Do you want to be caught?

I didn't like Chris yelling at the guy who was calling Dana fat either. I also thought he appeared to be a homeless man, and it's quite possible he did have issues. He certainly appeared frightened when Chris chased him off. I know it much be embarrassing to be singled out like that, but I was surprised it didn't bother Dana to see Chris chasing that man away too, when he may or may not have been completely culpable, as he may or may not have really understood fully what he was doing. And yes, throwing fifty pounds of food off a bridge is ridiculous as well. First, as you pointed out, it's littering. Second, was all of the food awful or was it just inappropriate for Dana, who can't control his consumption of it? If it was the latter, perhaps some of it could have been donated to a food shelf. Even if all of it needed to be tossed, there are better ways to get rid of it.

As for the receipts, I wonder if it isn't something like an alcoholic wanting liquor so badly at the moment that he/she just doesn't worry about the receipt and figures he/she will somehow explain where the money went later. I know it seems silly that he wouldn't have thought of the receipt, but maybe if his problem was great enough, he would just try not to think about it and/or decide he'd deal with it later, even if that's really unrealistic.

06-15-2011, 01:30 AM

Marlena_M

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

I just watched it tonight.
The food in the fridge, empty containers in the car and garbage can and lying about it when caught.... true addict behavior.

Glad he did not receive the skin removal surgery since he did not meet the goal, it shouldn't have been a "reward". It was disappointing to see the previous people not make the goal and still get the surgical reward.

Glad he admitted he is gay, came out to his family and they still love him.

Dana has a lot of work to do, emotionally, but is on a good track.

I hope he has knee surgery to repair his torn ACL. That is sooooo painful :(

06-15-2011, 02:03 AM

Critical

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

I'm sure someone from the production crew went and cleaned up the food Dana threw off the bridge.

I actually was glad Chris yelled at the guy. People behave like that every day and get away with it because they are allowed to get away with it. Potential mental problems aside, maybe he'll think twice before hurling nasty insults at someone else.

I had a feeling that Dana was gay right from the start and was glad he came out and that his family accepted him.

I shook my head over the store receipts too. Dude, if you bought a bunch of junk food, don't submit that receipt for reimbursement! I think that was a cry for help. I think what this series is showing is that losing this much weight is about a lot more than just eating less and exercising more.

06-15-2011, 12:30 PM

Bearcata

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Quote:

Originally Posted by Critical

I'm sure someone from the production crew went and cleaned up the food Dana threw off the bridge.

I actually was glad Chris yelled at the guy. People behave like that every day and get away with it because they are allowed to get away with it. Potential mental problems aside, maybe he'll think twice before hurling nasty insults at someone else.

I had a feeling that Dana was gay right from the start and was glad he came out and that his family accepted him.

I shook my head over the store receipts too. Dude, if you bought a bunch of junk food, don't submit that receipt for reimbursement! I think that was a cry for help. I think what this series is showing is that losing this much weight is about a lot more than just eating less and exercising more.

Thanks for bringing that up Critical, too many times I have heard all you have to do to lose weight is eat less and exercise more, it's as simple as that. Yes, for some people it is easy as that. We do tend to over estimate how much we eat and occasionally need a wakeup call to see what we are doing to outselves. However, many people emotionally eat to hide loneliness, rejection, depression and many other issues and until those issues are addressed the emotional eating does not go away and even if you lose weight you are likely to regain it.

06-15-2011, 03:40 PM

mandmmom2

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

I missed the last epidsode but recorded this one. I watched it yesterday. I pretty much agree with what everyone is saying. I kept thinking throughout the show that this dude needed to see a therapist. He has way more deep down issues to deal with than Chris can deal with. If he truly wants healing, physically and emotionally, then he must go see a therapist.

06-15-2011, 04:33 PM

Critical

Re: Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

I was surprised they didn't have Dana see a psychologist too. I thought his issues went beyond what Chris was equipped to deal with. Maybe he did do therapy and we didn't see it :shrug

Years ago, I lost about 40 lbs (which I, of course, regained and am now in the process of losing again) and one of the women I worked with asked me how I did it. I told her that I ate less and exercised. She didn't like that answer. She was always looking for the magic pill, diet supplement, etc., so eating less and exercising was not what she wanted to do.

Losing weight is hard. If it was, easy, more people would be thin. I actually like that the people on this show are struggling. It's more realistic than if they all hit their goals every time.